Side by Side: Trouble for Inuyasha and Kikyou
by itoshii-kikyou
Summary: COMPLETED! Based on Eps. 32 and 33, but with more of Kikyou and Inuyasha's (and in this one, even Naraku's) private encounters. Rated R for language and perhaps other things in later chapters. Kik and Inu fans, please read and review!
1. First Signs of Trouble

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Inuyasha.

Author's Note: This is the story about the next episode Kikyou's in, and what she and Inuyasha go through together. Even though this is a sequel to Side by Side, it can stand on its own as a story. So, please R&R!

Kagome stood with Sango outside of the cave. They were passing the demon-slayer's facemask back and forth to stifle the heavy miasma.

"Are you all right, Kagome-chan?" Sango questioned, being used to the heavy scent.

Kagome nodded, lost in another world.

This could be it. Naraku could be here. And if Naraku was here, she just knew they could defeat him. And that would mean going home, and no Inuyasha. _I should want Naraku defeated, after all the horrible things he's done, and I do, but… _Not only had Naraku hurt Inuyasha and Kikyou, and Miroku, but also Sango and Kohaku.

_We met Sango right after, right after… _Kagome couldn't complete her thought. That night that Kikyou had kissed Inuyasha and tried to take him to the underworld with her. Only Kagome's voice had stopped her. Without any gratitude whatsoever, Inuyasha had snuck back to Kikyou and… _And slept with her! _Kagome's mind screamed.

She still couldn't believe it. And then, when Miroku and Shippo had told Inuyasha to choose between her and Kikyou when they thought Kagome wasn't listening, he had wanted both of them!

"What a two-timer," she mumbled.

"Did you say something, Kagome?" Sango asked with a small smile on her face.

"No," Kagome lied, and then said something that was bothering her. "I just really hope that Inuyasha and Miroku are all right. I can't believe they left us out here."

"Well, the miasma would be too much for us inside. They can handle it."

"I guess so," Kagome said quietly.

Kikyou sighed. "I cannot fathom that I am trapped here." Although she thought she knew what was going on, she didn't dare say it out loud. Instead, she looked outside her room. Using her spiritual powers to summon a Soul Collector, she directed it to the guard. The Collector stole the soul from the guard.

Kikyou hated that part, but saving Inuyasha had to come first.

And she knew that he was in trouble.

She just always had a sense about him. And combining that with the strange aura she was reading from the young lord who had imprisoned her, there was something going on that she absolutely had to stop. Freeing herself, she grabbed her bow and arrows outside the door and glided as fast as she could to the mountain where she could feel the miasma radiating.

As she made her way up the hillside, Kikyou was surprised to find that her heart was beating fast against her clay breast. She was shocked at the feeling. The last time she had been conscious of her heart was when she and Inuyasha… When she and Inuyasha had become one under Goshinboku. Only for him to leave her and continue to travel with her reincarnation.

Kikyou was torn between a frown and a scowl. She knew that Kagome being her reincarnation was something that was supposed to happen, but why did it have to happen now? Or at least, why was Kikyou resurrected only to suffer watching Kagome share something with Inuyasha that should have been hers, something that _was _hers, but only during hushed visits and precious few seconds together?

If Kikyou had felt painful before that night, she could only wish for that sweet detachment again. Now that she had been Inuyasha, now that she was his, she pined for him day and night. Only her miko duties at sparse villages had kept her mind off of the hanyou.

_Funny, _she thought to herself. _I'm still doing in death what I did all my life. _

Kikyou knew she was getting close to the miasma. The impure air clouded her senses, but passed through her falsely breathing body unnoticed. It was such a horror to be in a clay body, to be a puppet of human life. Kikyou had been so strong, so noble… Could this really be her? Only her spirit allowed her to realize that it was still she. Only a little bit of her soul had been needed from Kagome's body to reform her mind and powers. And only her hard work and goals could give her hope and strength. And the power to dream… Of being with Inuyasha. Then the miko scoffed at herself for her untimely girlish thoughts.

She saw Kagome and another woman, a demon-slayer, waiting outside the cave. Without saying a word, Kikyou breezed past. What was the point of making conversation? She was only here for one reason.

Kagome bristled as Kikyou walked past her. She turned to Sango. "I'd better go inside and help Inuyasha," she told her companion. "If Kikyou is here, there's going to be trouble." She pretended to really believe that she was going in to help the hanyou, but the truth was, she couldn't stand for him to say _anything _or feel _anything _about her incarnate. She had to be there. She had to see.

Ignoring Sango's concern, the girl rushed in after Kikyou.

Author's Note: Sorry this chapter is so short and boring. I just had to kind of lay the groundwork. The next chapter will be up soon, please R&R with ideas, comments, etc.


	2. Kodoku

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Inuyasha.

Author's Note: This part should be a little bit more exciting. Please enjoy!

Kikyou's breath was harried as she made her way towards the sounds of a battle. _Something is taking my energy, _she thought wearily. The sounds of the cursed monk that traveled with Inuyasha met Kikyou as soon as she stepped into the dimly lit cavern, open to the stars.

A feeling entered her soul that felt as if every part of her was being sucked out. She tried to use her miko strength to keep the dead souls inside of her, but that only was draining her more. She surrendered to the swooshing feeling long enough to look down and see Inuyasha battling a giant youkai that looked as though it had sucked in other parts of demons. Suddenly she realized the reason why her souls were leaving her.

"Kodoku," she whispered, referring to the spell in which a demon would battle all other demons in the area until it was the last, and strongest. To this demon, her dead souls were something not of this world, so they were now involved in the fray.

Hearing a whisper, Miroku turned. "Kikyou-sama," he mumbled, knowing her immediately. The monk could see that a strong bluish aura was radiating around the priestess, looking as though it was trying to branch off towards the demon.

Below him, fighting the creature, Inuyasha suddenly looked up.

His heart lurched.

_Kikyou… _His eyes met hers.

His heart pounded. He couldn't take his eyes off her.

"Inuyasha," she said. Although barely more than a whisper, her voice reached his.

"Kikyou," he cried out softly, ignoring the dangerous beast. Kikyou looked as though her dead souls were trying to leave her. _Damn it, _he thought, his body tensed in terror. He didn't even stop to think, to question, why she was here. If this had something to do with Naraku, and Inuyasha himself was here, then why wouldn't Kikyou be here?

"Miroku!" He yelled. "Do something, help Kikyou!" Inuyasha wanted to help her, to stem the flow of souls leaving her. If they left her, then that would mean… He didn't even want to think about what that would mean.

Kikyou felt a soothing feeling as her souls flew into the demon. She felt like she was in a trance, and walked blindly towards Inuyasha. _Inuyasha, _she thought. _I'm coming to you. Please wait, don't leave me. _Her steps led her closer to him. Every step.

"Kikyou-sama!" Miroku called out finally. "Don't go any further!"

He was too late.

"This is…" the miko muttered, the majority of her souls gone from her body. She felt dusty, old and ancient. Only one thought entered her mind as she stepped from the cliff. "Inuyasha," she cried out.

"KIKYOU!" Inuyasha spun around to see her lifeless form falling to the ground.

Miroku reached out, only to run his fingers through a handful of silky hair that disappeared between his fingertips like sand as she fell.

_Please come to me, _Kikyou thought, feeling a thump in the darkness of the body as she hit the ground. She was too weak, she didn't care. Was this where it would end for her?

Sensing more dead souls, the enchanted demon yelled. He would go after that clay body full of souls. It was easy pickings. Then he would finish off that hanyou.

Inuyasha sensed what the creature was thinking, then ran over to where Kikyou lay, motionless. She had to be alive; she just had to, if the creature still thought she was a threat.

"Inuyasha, get away from there!" Miroku was yelling. "You'll be killed! This is Kodoku! You can't kill him anyway!"

"I HAVE TO PROTECT KIKYOU!" Inuyasha screamed. What was it that the idiot priest didn't understand? He had failed her before, he couldn't do it again. She was all-important to him. As the silver-haired half-demon looked up to berate the monk, a surprising sight met his eyes.

Kagome was peering down into the cave.

Inuyasha felt as though he had been caught. As he met eyes with the girl, something flashed between them. He felt as though she had just realized how important Kikyou was to him, and Inuyasha felt very guilty about that.

Somewhere, in a dream, Kikyou could feel cool, dim darkness all around her. _Is this a dream? _

Inuyasha was calling her. Kikyou felt like she was smiling. Then she saw him standing before her.

She hated him. He had abandoned her. She wanted to kill him. It wasn't fair, it wasn't fair that she was wandering the earth alone, while he was finding love with her reincarnation.

"Inu…Yasha," she cried out weakly in her mind. Somewhere deep down, she was trying to fight. Trying to stay alive.

_What's the point? _She asked herself. _He will find love with that other girl. He used me, he only wanted to consummate his love for me, and then he moved on with her. It was a mistake, he didn't love me, and he didn't want me. To him, I am inside her, and by moving forward with her, he can still be with me._

Her heartbeat weakened.

_If she makes him happy, then I should let him be happy. I already caused him his sadness and pain, for not believing him. _Kikyou's throat burned. _But Naraku._

_I must kill Naraku, I must survive this. _

She summoned all her strength.

"Kikyou…" A voice was calling her. It was pulling at her soul, pushing and prodding her. She opened her eyes. A scene of the flat, rocky ground turned sideways greeted her. Kikyou fluttered her eyes and felt gentle female hands around her.

"You fool," the miko muttered. "Don't you realize that by coming here, you risk him losing you?"

"Huh?" Kagome said. "You mean Inuyasha? I had to come help you. Otherwise, he wouldn't give up trying to save you."

_Interfering girl. _

Kikyou stood up, remembering her objective.

"Inuyasha's trying to kill that monster," Kagome continued, as if she was talking about the weather or deciding a shopping list.

"What? No, he can't." This new incentive propelled Kikyou to her feet. Horrified, she realized that the hanyou was about to deliver a fatal blow. Everything that Kikyou suspected, everything that she knew, rushed to her head and made her dizzy.

Kagome looked over at Inuyasha, not knowing whether or not he should kill the beast.

"Huh?" An arrow hit Tetsusaiga, reversing its transformation.

Everyone looked over to Kikyou, who was now standing strongly, her bow in her hand. The string still quivering. She looked on determinedly at Inuyasha, whose stomach gave a sudden lurch that didn't have anything to do with the miko's arrow.

He looked at his katana in amazement. _One arrow by her, just one, reversed the transformation. _Again, Kikyou's power had astounded him. _But what did she do that for? _He wondered. _I was about to kill that monster!_

Kikyou's purifying arrow had flown up to the top of the cave, where it shone down purple light on everyone.

_I hope I did the right thing, _Kikyou thought behind her cool façade. _Come out, Naraku._

Author's Note: Don't worry, there's some R-rated stuff coming up soon. I was also actually thinking about possibly some ahem interaction between Kikyou and Naraku in the following chapter, but I won't do it unless I get some feedback. And please review as soon as possible because I'm itching to write the next chapter, lime or no lime! And thanks again for all your support!


	3. Naraku's New Body

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Inuyasha.

Author's Note: Please keep in mind that these stories are based on the anime, and not word to word, scene to scene transcripts. I'm projecting my own thoughts and ideas into everything, so of course I think that they're much more interesting, and what I would like to see!

Also, sorry for being away so long, but I had no means to get on the Internet. But that's all fixed now, so keep the comments coming. Also again, there is some risqué stuff in this chapter, be warned!

...The ground shook. Kagome screamed as pieces of the demon and bits of rock were sucked out of the top of the cave. Miroku called out to them, but she and Inuyasha found themselves flying through the air towards another mountain. Inuyasha reached out for Kagome's hand.

"Kagome, are you all right?" _She shouldn't have come, _the hanyou thought.

She grabbed it. "Yes, but Kikyou is…" The girl gestured towards a carcass atop which Kikyou was lying down, unconscious again.

Inuyasha pushed Kagome back to give himself room to lunge forward to grab Kikyou's hand as well. However, the debris was coming to its destination. Summoning it all in, was-

_Naraku. _Inuyasha growled, grabbing Kagome and jumping from the heap of rubble. _It is you, after all. _He watched as the loose body parts from the Kodoku spell were sucked into Naraku, transforming him. Kikyou landed at his feet.

Naraku, standing stark naked in his new form, looked down at her. "So this really is the Kikyou who died 50 years ago," he laughed. "She did me a favor, giving me this new body."

Kagome couldn't contain her anger, "No, you idiot! She did that to save Inuyasha!"

"Well, in any case, she'll be coming with me." Naraku reached down and picked up her prostrate body and held it close to his own.

Disgusted and angry, Inuyasha charged at his nemesis. "Don't fucking touch Kikyou with your dirty hand!"

However, miasma met his blade and threw him off Naraku. Untouched, Naraku summoned his furry cape and vanished into the starry night with Kikyou.

"Damn it," Inuyasha snarled, tears forming in his eyes. "DAMN IT!" _I'll get you Kikyou. Don't give up, I'll save you!_

Naraku was deep in thought. _Kikyou just about gave me this new body. If she were merely trying to save Inuyasha, then she would have just purified the demon and ruined all my plans. But instead, she broke the seal. What could this woman be thinking? _He didn't bother to look down.

If he had, he would have seen Kikyou staring back at him.

...Back at the castle, Kikyou opened her eyes to the sounds of her Soul Collectors trying to come in and not being able to enter. As if reading her mind, a seductive voice filled her ears.

"I have placed a barrier outside this room, and your Soul Stealing servants cannot enter." Kikyou didn't even bother to flutter her eyes in his direction. She knew it was Naraku, and she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of her gaze. She stared blankly ahead.

"Without your souls of the dead, you remain helpless." A thump indicated that Naraku had sat down next to her. She denied her intense fury and continued to remain calm and unemotional.

"Kikyou...What can you be thinking?" Naraku's mind returned to the recent event. _With one of your sacred arrows, you could purify whichever spell you choose. And yet, you let me have my new body. _Breathing heavily, he chanced a glance into her beautiful face of porcelain and ivory. A goddess. Unruffled, her arms at her sides, and her hair fanned out all around her.

Earlier, he had softly opened her shirt and pulled away the hakama and then stripped her of her undergarments. Naraku couldn't bear her to be clothed; something inside of him that couldn't be denied needed to see Kikyou in all her delicate, pure beauty. The miko was a Chinese bellflower in full bloom, waiting to be deflowered. He had laid her down delicately, his hands shaking, a bare body beneath silken sheets. Didn't she know that it was he who had captured her, that it was he who had brought her here? _Perhaps she merely wanted to see what lay beyond the spell._

As if she had read his mind, Kikyou finally spoke. "And there you were. Your disguise is fine, Onigumo."

That name. That name brought fear to Naraku's heart and a mad fluttering to his loins. But he stayed collected. "Huh," he chuckled. "Onigumo, now that brings me back 50 years in the past." He put his face near Kikyou's, making the miko look up at him. She would feel his fire, his fury, his every passion. Naraku would not let her deny it.

"You saved me, took pity on me, and sheltered that fugitive in a cave." Naraku chuckled. Kikyou wanted to turn her face in disgust, but realized that she was paralyzed with fear… Or something else.

Naraku continued. "Onigumo offered his body to the demons, who more than gladly shared his evil soul. And thus was born…" The dark-haired demon said with a flourish- "Naraku." With a smug smile, he took a jewel shard from his kimono. Despite herself, Kikyou gasped. Pain and anger rent her soul. _It can't be…_

"That's…" She moaned weakly. She couldn't say the words. _Not the Shikon No Tama, please no… _But Kikyou knew that it was. She could sense it, like so many other things in this world. And, like so many other things in this world, she wanted it all to end. The miko closed her eyes, now hearing the voice of her most hated nemesis inside her every pore, barely conscious of the sound of a robe slipping to the floor, and too weak to care. _Inuyasha…_

"Yes," Naraku said smugly. "The very thing that you took with your life to erase from this world. A shard of the Shikon No Tama." Seeing the hurt and pain on the miko's face was almost too much for Naraku to stand. He wanted to take her as soon as possible, claim her as his. The poor girl hadn't even noticed that he was nude. His desire both irritated and excited him.

Kikyou finally spoke, weakly. "They say it was your desire to posses it that brought you to kill me." The words hurt to speak, but all she could do was speak them.

"Discussing such a thing with one who is no more than a collection of dead souls is unseemly." Naraku stroked her arm, feeling her bristle. It felt human. As human as she did when he was in that cave. _Damn it, _he thought to himself. _I am not Onigumo. Why do I keep thinking as that criminal who wanted Kikyou? _He knew he must have her soon. He leaned down.

"Kikyou, look at me."

Suddenly seeing his naked body and raging member before her brought tears to Kikyou's eyes. "It's that robber Onigumo that has such interests. I'm trying to deny him, but…" Naraku waved his hand as if in boredom. "I'm afraid he might get the better of me."

"Teme…" Kikyou began insultingly.

Naraku continued as if she hadn't spoken. "But the search for the remaining fragments frustrates me." He stood up and went to the window, where he let one of Kikyou's Soul Collectors enter. He then slayed it without cause. Kikyou winced and closed her eyes. _I would rather go to my doom than stay alive one more minute and suffer his disgusting affections._

The dark prince took the soul that the creature had dropped and put a Shikon shard inside of it, watching it sink into the miko's body. Kikyou wanted to reject it, but was too weak. It lay dormant in her frail body.

Naraku then climbed on top of her. Kikyou gasped and screwed her eyes closed, trying to ignore the weight on her form. _Inuyasha, please come for me. Where are you? _As strong as Kikyou was, she could not believe that she had to rely on someone else now.

Naraku scoffed. "What are you, a miko or a whore?" Kikyou couldn't deny the tears that escaped, ashamed at her position. "Who would make love with a clay body?" Then he smiled.

"Inuyasha?" He asked seductively. Kikyou tried to give nothing away, but with his naked body pressed to hers, Naraku could feel her heart skip a beat. "How disgusting." His lips were inches from hers.

"You know he's with that other girl now, don't you?" The demon mocked her. "The one who looks so much like you, but it so unlike you." He laughed again. "I wonder when he took you," Naraku questioned, his tongue and lips moving against the skin of Kikyou's bare stomach until they rested in her navel and made her shiver. "Certainly not before you pinned him to that tree?" He moved back up over her body and his lean muscular form contoured itself to her curves.

_Why is he doing this? Why is he making me relive it? Damn it, why can't I move? _Kikyou uttered a sob. This further excited Naraku. He enjoyed this game that he was playing with himself and Kikyou. He wanted to be inside her, to hurt her, to make her move with pain whenever she walked, so that she would remember, and then to deposit her before that useless hanyou in a disheveled heap.

But not yet. First, Naraku would make him suffer further.

"If you truly yearn for this world, Kikyou, then I bid you to go that girl who is like you. Destroy her, and take back your life with Inuyasha. You have a score to settle, don't you?" He reluctantly climbed off her, his member stiffening as it passed over her smooth, pure skin. "A battle between good and evil," he mused. "Tainted as you are, you are still more pure than one could ever hope to be. Go," he commanded. "Find the girl, and kill her." Seeing the souls inside of her react to the Shikon Shard, he allowed the other Soul Collectors to deposit their burdens. He then watched as Kikyou left, leaving him to release himself from his lust.


	4. Nightmares and Dreams

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Inuyasha.

Author's Note: This is the last chapter in this Side by Side. Please comment and let me know what more you'd like to see in future Side by Sides.

………._Kikyou died because of Naraku, _Inuyasha thought wildly to himself. He followed her Soul Collectors into the distance. The others trailed behind him on Kirara. For some reason, Kagome wasn't on his back as usual. It really would have been better for Kirara, who was already bearing the weight of the others, and Kagome had insisted on going anyways. Inuyasha shook his head. He couldn't fathom the minds of humans sometimes. Returning to his anxious thoughts, his eyes clouded with jealousy. _The woman I love died because of him! I won't let him have her!_

"Look at this!" Sango heard a buzzing noise. "Insects!" She cut through one with her katana to reveal Naraku's Saimyoushou.

"It's a trap!" Kagome yelled. They all jumped from Kirara, not noticing a fog that had gathered.

They didn't notice that they all began to lose each other.

………."What is that up there?" Inuyasha could see something bright in the fog up ahead. _Where is everyone? _But his mind was only focused on saving Kikyou. He saw a clearing ahead and jumped up into a tree. "Huh?" Looking down, he saw flames and the very village where he had tried to take the Shikon no Tama all those years ago. _This can't be. _The hanyou shook his head. "Where am I?"

Suddenly, villagers surrounded him. They screamed at him. "That's him! The one who attacked us! It's Inuyasha!"

No, not, it's not me, I didn't- Without thinking, he ran from then, leaping over posts and trees just like he had before. 

The night was suddenly lit up with flames, and Inuyasha was surrounded by them. "This place. I don't know where I am…" Feeling a cool heat in his hand, the hanyou looked down. Shocked, he saw the whole Shikon No Tama, still on the beautiful necklace Kikyou had made for it so long ago. "It can't be? The Shikon jewel!" Then he heard an enraged voice.

"INUYASHA!" It was Kikyou, yelling his name, thinking that he had betrayed her. Inuyasha noticed this time the pain and hurt in her voice. How had he let that escape him before? In an instant he realized what was to befall him, but it was too late.

He felt a hot burn in his chest from a sacred arrow. Surprise hit him like a bucket of cold water. _Why am I surprised? I knew this was going to happen. It's just like that day. _His memory synchronized with the clinking of the Shikon Jewel falling from his hand onto the ground as it rolled to a stop.

Inuyasha tried to sit up. "Ki… Kikyou." As he looked, she was suddenly there, in front of him. _It's fifty years ago. The day she killed me. _Tears were flowing down his cheeks, but the hanyou didn't notice them. _The village that I attacked so that I could steal the Shikon jewel, when I thought that Kikyou had betrayed me._

Inuyasha noticed the look of pure, bitter hatred on Kikyou's face. She now looked as she did on the day she was resurrected. "Kikyou wait!" He commanded. "It was all a trap! Don't do this! Don't you remember when we, when we-" He broke off as Kikyou raised her bow and arrow and aimed it at him. Tears were now traveling unbidden down her bloodstained cheeks. _All that blood. _ "No!" He cried out it a half-sob. _Is this hell? Is it a dream? How did I get here? How did she? Kikyou…_

……….Little did Inuyasha know that at that same moment, Sango was reliving the day that Kohaku killed her family, and Miroku was dreaming of his wind tunnel taking him over. And that somewhere in the woods a kitsune demon was lost and alone in a nightmare.

……….Naraku, now sated after committing an act on himself that he thought totally unnecessary, sat watching Kikyou sleeping in a tree. "The soul is such a fragile thing. Sadness, fear, and confusion." Naraku visualized all of the fools that were lost in the nightmares. "If even the slightest doubt exists, then the soul will be consumed with darkness." He looked down at the object of Onigumo's fascination with a half-smile. "You will be mine soon, Kikyou." Then he looked over towards Kagome.

_Perhaps because of her jewel shards, that girl remains unaffected._

He smiled. "Only she will make it here. The stage has been set for you, girl." Suddenly, Kikyou's eyes snapped open.

"Aren't you the clever one?" She said in silken tones. With a blinding light she slashed through the puppet on the tree limb.

The real Naraku, still in the castle, chuckled. "How dare she?" He frowned, knowing that now he couldn't see what was going on with everyone. "She destroyed the golem. How dare she defy me?" He was working himself into an outrage. _The jewel fragment that I slipped inside Kikyou's body is having no effect on her! I should have taken her while I had the chance! Now she'll escape. She'll escape from my clutches again!_

……….Kikyou saw her reincarnation standing before her. She knew what she wanted to do. That fool Naraku thought he could control her. Inuyasha had not come for her. The miko had to rely on herself now.

"Kikyou." Kagome looked up at the miko, who grabbed her bow and arrows. "Kikyou!" She ran towards her. "You're okay! We were so worried about you!"

Kikyou aimed an arrow carefully at the girl. Her body shook from the feeling of Naraku's body against hers. She felt as though something inside of her had snapped.

"We've been so worried, and Inuyasha, he-" The girl was cut off as an arrow grazed her cheek and landed behind her, making a deep ravine in the ground. Gasping, Kagome felt a small trail of blood run down her face. She began to scream. And fell into the pit, grabbing a root to keep her from falling all the way down. Appearing unconcerned, Kikyou made her way slowly over to where Kagome was.

"Naraku finds himself frightened of you," she said to the girl. "He tried to control me with the sacred jewel, wishing that I would turn against you." _All I was doing was helping villagers when they came for me, those men, and took me to that prince. The prince that turned out to be Naraku. The one being that I truly loathe. And where was my lover?_

Kagome just hung on for dear life, gasping at the other miko. _Will she save me? _Noticing the Soul Collectors gathering, Kagome looked at Kikyou again. "There's a jewel shard in your chest." The Soul Collectors then held Kagome up in the air.

Kikyou continued. "Surely the priestess who guarded the Shikon Jewel has not fallen so low as to be controlled by a mere shard of the jewel."

Kagome watched, awestruck, as Kikyou purified the shard in her chest. Then she reached down and grabbed Kagome's shards. _I can't think of Inuyasha now. And there's no way that any of them would understand, even Inuyasha himself. I have to finish him. I have to kill Naraku on my own._

"Hey!" Kagome gasped. Then the roots grabbed her and pulled her down.

………."Kikyou!" Inuyasha reached out for his beloved miko as she suddenly sank to the ground. Blood was seeping from the wound in her right shoulder. The wound made by his claws. It didn't matter that Naraku had shape-shifted into him. It was with those claws that the wound had been made. His claws.

Kikyou was shaking, holding her arm. Her emotions were intense; Inuyasha could tell. He ran over to her, pulling the arrow from his chest and throwing it down. Blood spilled down his front. Unconcerned, he ran over to the miko. "Kikyou," he cried, holding his beloved. _She came to me in her pain. All alone._ "Kikyou, you'll never be alone again. I swear it. I will always protect you. I will always love you." It seemed as though a spotlight was on them. He looked into the miko's eyes. They weren't joyful, as he had expected. Instead, she glanced sideways.

"Do you mean that there's someone else I have to protect?" He looked over to see another spotlight, where Kagome stood with her smiling face. When he looked back at Kikyou, she had turned into a root, and then burst into flames. Angrily, he pushed the remains away. "Of course! This isn't real. It's an illusion! How in the hell could I have…" _Because I want there to be a life where I can be with Kikyou… _He admitted to himself. _But I can't leave Kagome, and Kikyou knows that. _He ran off into the distance, the fog suddenly clearing.

Finding Miroku, he saved him from the illusory death. Then he directed him off to find the others. He would find Kagome. And he did.

Pulling her from the tangled roots, Inuyasha stood her up on the solid ground. "Kagome," he started, relieved. "These roots caused some kind of an illusion. It looks like you got away from it okay, though." He noticed that Kagome was looking right behind him, terrified. Ready to draw his sword, he turned around.

"Kikyou!" He called out in a strangled gasp. He saw that Kikyou had the jewel shards in her hand, the ones that Kagome usually carried. "Those are Kagome's jewel shards!" He then looked back to the frightened Kagome. "Kagome…"

Angrily, he turned back towards Kikyou. "Don't tell me that it was you?" _You don't hurt innocent people, Kikyou. _

Kikyou wanted to melt into his arms, but she forced herself to appear unfazed. "What's wrong, Inuyasha?" _You didn't come for me, like you promised. _"Why is it you're unhappy to see that I'm well?" _You don't really care for me, do you?_

"Tell me what you did to her!" The hanyou yelled, shocked. _Is this what I get for leaving you alone by the river, after swearing that I loved you? I meant it, I meant it Kikyou. I still mean it. _But he couldn't bring himself to say the words out loud with Kagome so close by.

"I tried to kill her," Kikyou said nonchalantly. She wondered if Inuyasha realized that if she really had wanted Kagome dead, it would have been easy. But she would make him pay. She would torment him. "What is it you're going to do about it?" She felt angry, betrayed.

His eyes flashed angrily into hers. He was trying to read her, but Kikyou wouldn't let him. Naraku's words rang in her mind. _"What are you, a miko or a whore?"_

"When Naraku had you under his spell, what did you think about?" Kikyou's breath caught as Inuyasha remembered the moments before, and a wide blush crept onto his cheeks. The miko laughed mirthlessly. "Would you have said all those things if you were going to kill me?" She wished that they were true. They had to be true. Perhaps one day, when it was all over… No. There would never be that time.

Her Soul Collectors gathered their mistress and started to take her into the sky. _Running. I'm always running. I'm sorry, Inuyasha. That nightmare you had… It was my dream. _Aloud, she said, "Embracing death together! Now that's a day I'll wait for!" Hoping that the hanyou didn't notice the tears running down her face, she rose upwards.

Looking down at her reincarnation, Inuyasha gulped. He scratched his head. "Tell me what she did to you Kagome."

"She took the sacred jewel back from me... I'm sorry," the girl said in a detached kind of way.

Inuyasha was furious. "That's not what I'm asking! I want to know did Kikyou really try to…" _Not Kikyou. She would never harm an innocent person. _

"Then don't ask me!" Kagome screamed and stalked off.

"I'll catch up, then!" Inuyasha hollered after her, and then sat down on the ground. He put his face in his hands.

"Kikyou, what did I ever do to you?" He looked up at the sky. "Was it killing you that day, even though it wasn't me? Was it not trusting you?" Probably. "Even though it wasn't my fault. Does that make me guilty?" Guilty enough.

The tears filled his hands and ran down his wrists. He didn't even try to stop them. His mind was in another place now. A place where he had loved Kikyou in the past, and even now, he still couldn't get the thoughts of her from his mind. He thought that consummating that ancient love would make it lessen; instead, it had grown. And it was now getting to a point where neither one of them could control it.

……….Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed it! The next one will come hopefully in a week or so…


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